5 things only people in a long-term relationship can understand

In the beginning of a relationship, there are so many things that scare us: we’re afraid to text and call first, we even hesitate to like a picture of a person on Instagram.

So what are the benefits of a long-term relationship? A couple that has overcome difficulties and copes with challenges won’t break up because of arguments or other insignificant things.

Below are 5 things people in long-term relationships don’t pay attention to:

1. You aren’t afraid that your partner may have different plans and values
One of the main advantages of a long-term relationship is stability: you know your partner’s habits, desires, and goals. True love makes you both act like one mechanism, you’re teammates, and you’re always ready to support each other.

So in the beginning of a relationship, your partner’s plans (for example, moving to China to study pandas) may surprise you, but as time goes by, you know what your partner wants and you’ll both probably start to follow the same dreams.

2. You’re not afraid to discuss different topics
Both in the beginning of a relationship and 20 years down the road, communication is the key to understanding. “New” couples try to restrict the topics that they discuss and those who have been dating for a long time can talk about anything they want: from quantum physics to the situation when one of them turns into a zombie. The more trusting the partners’ communication is, the stronger their relationship is.

3. You’re not afraid to appear in “bad shape”
In the beginning, we try to be the most ideal version of ourselves: we want to look perfect, smell great, and always be in a good mood. Once the relationship is rather strong, we aren’t afraid to show our partner that we feel bad or tired. In this case, our feelings and emotions are stronger than our need to keep our appearance perfect. We know that we can still be the best for our partner, no matter how we look.

4. You don’t care if your parents or friends don’t like your partner
“Young” relationships can’t deal with criticism very well. When you’re together for a long period of time, you pay no attention to others’ opinions. Your granny might not like your girlfriend or your friends may think your boyfriend doesn’t suit you — but this only makes you smile because you know that they just don’t understand that your partner is incredible.

5. You aren’t afraid that workplace issues will spoil your relationship
Career ups and downs are tough challenges for a person to deal with. In a long-term relationship, people overcome all of their difficulties together, they share successes and failures, and support each other.

Sometimes it’s complicated to have to put up with constant workloads, but if a couple is strong, they aren’t afraid of these challenges because they’ve already managed to cope with them earlier and they know what to do in these situations.